In the very near future, a partnership approach between NSA national and NSA chapters might could also include these benefits:
On a required basis for new chapters and a staged implementation basis for existing chapters, at no additional charge:
–Annual co-branded renewal invoice/’benefits of membership’ statement mailing (paper or electronic) sent from NSA national to all chapter members.
–Annual conversion invoice/’benefits of membership’ statement mailing sent from national to all chapter “apprentices”, with a copy of the national membership application.
–Annual chapter membership invoice/benefits statement mailing sent from national to all NSA members living within a chapter’s impact area who are not on the latest chapter membership list (already provided by chapters to NSA at rechartering time).
–Chapter membership invoice/benefits statement sent by national to all new NSA members who join throughout the year with the welcome packet that already goes out.
Chapter membership is not required, but national only members are going to get a systematic opportunity to join a local chapter every tear.
On an opt-in basis, at no additional cost–
–Provide a detailed system of policies and procedures that are offered free to all chapters (and highly recommended to new chapters). This might include a model bylaws, policy & procedure manual, membership application, event registration from, chapter benefits summary, and a recommended list of national vendors for insurance, services, web hosting, teleconferencing, webcasting, etc (all of whom could be national vendor members or sponsors).
–Web code that could be pasted into any chapter site to facilitate program payment & registration/RSVPs for chapter events.
–Web code/link that could be pasted into any chapter site to facilitate annual membership renewals for members and apprentices.
–Use of a NSA shopping cart that would allow chapters to sell NSA products or registration for national workshops on their site for a 10% profit share. This yeilds greater sales for national NSA and certainly extends the brand.
On an opt-in basis, at an additional charge–
–Three to five website templates that have everything a chapter would NEED to have a professional, NSA brand-consistent, and efficient chapter web presence. Chapters could pay once for use of this template (to cover national’s development costs) and give it to their own web hosting company to modify, update, and maintain.
–Centralized chapter management services a chapter COULD CHOOSE ALA CART according to their needs and finances. These might include a virtual assistant, program promotion, graphic design, meeting registration services, monthly program emailing, direct mail campaigns, PO Box services, consistent virtual phone and fax numbers (that don’t change each year with the new president), travel services for guest presenters, basic bookkeeping services, annual state and tax filing services (inc renewals, state sales tax returns, IRS reporting if over $25k), etc.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a start when we come to eavy, low-controversy, steps we can begin taking now. They are opt in or staged implementation steps for existing chapters which allows current chapters to choose to participate. This allows them to prove their worth to other chapters BEFORE anyone is required to do anything.
Keep Smilin’
Marty
Marty Val Hill
NSA Mt West Immediate Past President
Chapter Leadership Council (CLC) Member
202-470-4225
Filed under: Uncategorized
To add to Marty’s dramatic and past time to implement list, I would also encourage learning management software for all to use, documenting speaker effectiveness, I feel strongly that we have some of the best content on the planet, and coaching modules, testing modules, accountability modules that await great content and audience participation is OUR next step as well.
I was quite surprised when Linda Keith CPA, CSP’s meticulous Job Description and Time Line for Duties of Chapter Jobs, was not even around five years later when the Chapter was looking for Job Descriptions, let alone be a part of the NSA Best Chapter Practices.
I would humbly request that on ChapterOne.org, we make sure that links are working and we assemble wisdom from all chapters. We have such wonderful people contributing for so many years, and it seems as if we continue to reinvent the wheel. I appreciate improvement, and it is wise to build from a solid foundation. Even things that didn’t work would be wise to consider.
Even the NSA Mt West Member Benefits, with the data base shared is a brilliant idea. Why not have those ideas at least communicated, let alone cooperatively owned.
We have so many things we could grow into, to make the association a MANDATORY investment.
In the Spirit of Cavett,
John Meluso CSP
Thanks John,
I’m intrigued by the learning management software option. This could provide huge value to member-users and contributors. How would you see NSA implementing this?
Do you have a copy of Linda’s duties and timelines document that you could email to me? Does anyone else have it? marty @ liveyourlegacy . com
I agree with the working links suggestion on chapterone. Perhaps the solution is to post docs or pdfs directly rather than linking to chapter sites which may frequently change.
All who are interested are welcome to a copy of our NSA Mt West member benefits document. Just send me a note.
Keep Smilin’ Marty
NSA MT West Immediate Past President Chapter Leadership Council (CLC) Member